Presbyterians to open first Alice church

By Gail ListonUpdated
Wed 24 Jul 2013, 2:08 PM AEST

The Alice Springs Presbyterian Church officially opens its doors this weekend.

The Reverend Keith Bell says the church has a strong connection with central Australia, which began more than a century ago when John Flynn set up the Australian Inland Mission, but has never had a congregation there.

"The role of the Presbyterian Inland Mission is to provide ministry to people in far-flung places," he said.

"They have many patrols operating in Australia in all states. They would like to have one in based here in Alice Springs and covering the southern part of the Territory as well."

Reverend Bell says the drive to open a church in Alice Springs was sparked by last year's centenary of the Inland Mission.

"That gave us the impetus to get it launched and started but there's quite widespread support for the establishment of this congregation throughout the Presbyterian Church in Australia," he said.